Pin assembly

ABSTRACT

A pin assembly, a pin assembly for an article of clothing, and a pin assembly for a headwear article. The pin assembly may include a pin, a crown, and an adornment. The pin may include a post and the post may include a threaded portion. The crown may receive the threaded portion of the post. The adornment may releasably couple to the crown.

BACKGROUND

The disclosed embodiments relate generally to a pin assembly that is child safe.

SUMMARY

One embodiment relates to a pin assembly. The pin assembly comprises a pin, a crown, and an adornment. The pin includes a post. The post includes a threaded portion. The crown is configured to receive the threaded portion of the post. The adornment releasably couples to the crown.

Another embodiment relates to a pin assembly for an article of clothing. The article comprises a material having a first face and a second face. The pin assembly comprises a pin, a crown, and an adornment. The pin includes a post. The post is configured to penetrate the first and second faces of the material. The post also includes a threaded portion. The crown is configured to receive the threaded portion of the post and is adapted to be positioned adjacent to the second face of the material. The adornment releasably couples to the crown.

Yet another embodiment relates to a pin assembly for a headwear article. The article comprises a material having a first face and a second face. The pin assembly comprises a pin, a crown, and an adornment. The pin includes a post. The post is configured to penetrate the first and second faces of the material. The post also includes a threaded portion. The crown is configured to receive the threaded portion of the post and is adapted to be positioned adjacent to the second face of the material. The adornment releasably couples to the crown.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the disclosed embodiments will become apparent from the following description, appended claims, and the accompanying exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings, which are briefly described below.

FIG. 1 is an exploded back view of a pin assembly according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an exploded front view of the pin assembly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional side view of the pin assembly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an exploded cross sectional side view of a pin assembly and a top view of a plurality of adornments.

FIG. 5 is a top view of a headwear article including a pin assembly and an exploded side view of the pin assembly included on the headwear article according to another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the headwear article including the pin assembly of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Presently preferred embodiments are illustrated in the drawings. An effort has been made to use the same and/or like reference numbers throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

The pin assembly may be used by all ages. The pin assembly includes parts that when assembled are child safe. An adornment included in the pin assembly is selected by a user for a user to show, e.g., enthusiasm or support for a given sports team, a recreational activity, etc.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a pin assembly 1 according to an embodiment preferably includes a pin 2, a crown 6, and an adornment 7. The pin 1 may include a base 12 and a post 5. The base 12 may be any suitable shape. For example, the base 12 may be circularly shaped, star shaped, square shaped, or oval shaped. Preferably, the base 12 is circularly shaped. The post 5 includes a first end and a second end. The first end of the post 5 extends from the base 12 of the pin 1. The first end of the post 5 may be any suitable shape, for example, rectangular or cylindrical. Preferably the first end of the post 5 is cylindrical. The second end of the post 5 may include a threaded portion 3 and a tip 4. The tip 4 preferably is pointed and is capable of piercing fabric and other similar materials. The base 12 and the post 5 may be made of any suitable material. For example, the base 12 and the post 5 may be made of metal or plastic. Preferably, the base 12 and the post 5 are made of the same material. The widest portion of the post 5 may be any size or width.

The crown 6 may include a base 19. The base 19 of the crown 6 may include an opening 9. The opening 9 may include a female thread that receives the threaded portion 3 of the post 5, such that the pin 2 is fastened to the crown 6. Preferably the opening 9 of the crown 6 is manually fastened to the threaded portion 3 of the post 5. Once the crown 6 is fastened to the post 5 of the pin 2, it takes a significant force to unfasten the crown 6 from the pin 2, thereby making the pin assembly 1 child safe. For example, the force needed to unfasten the crown 6 from the pin 2 is preferably greater than the force required to unfasten a lid from a baby bottle. To increase the force needed to unfasten the crown 6 from the pin 2, the base 19 of the crown 6 may include nubs (not shown). Preferably, the nubs are positioned adjacent to a material (not shown) and the base 12 of the pin 2 is positioned adjacent to the material when the crown 6 is fastened to the post 5. The material may be any desired material for attaching the pin assembly to. For example, the material may be fabric included in a backpack, a headwear article, or a sweater. When the crown 6 is unfastened from the pin 2, the interaction between the nubs and the material creates a frictional force that requires a greater force to be exerted to unfasten the crown 6 from the pin 2. The base 19 of the crown 6 may be any suitable shape. For example, the base 19 may have the shape of, or approximating, a circle, star, square, or oval. Preferably, the base 19 of the crown 6 is circularly shaped.

The crown 6 may also include a mounting ring 20. The mounting ring 20 may include a first section 14, a second section 15, a connecting section 16, and an opening 9. The first section 14, the second section 15, and the connecting section 16 may each be any suitable shape. For example, the first section 14, the second section 15, and the connecting section 16 may, for example, be oval shaped, circularly shaped, or rectangularly shaped. Preferably, the first section 14, the second section 15, and the connecting section 16 are circularly shaped. The diameter of the first section 14 is smaller than the diameter of the second section 15, and the diameter of the connecting section 16 is smaller than the diameter of the first section 14. The opening 9 of the mounting ring 20 is the same opening as the opening 9 in the base 19 of the crown 6. The female thread included in the opening 9 of the mounting ring 20 extends from the mounting ring 20 to the base 19. The mounting ring 20 may be made of any suitable material. For example, the mounting ring 20 may be made of metal or plastic. The mounting ring 20, the base 19 of the crown 6, the base 12 of the pin 2, and the post 5 of the pin 2 may be made of the same or different materials. Preferably, the mounting ring 20, the base 19, the base 12, and the post 5 are made of the same material.

The adornment 7 may include a snapping device 8. The snapping device 8 releasably couples the adornment 7 to the mounting ring 20. The snapping device 20 may be any shape that enables the snapping device 8 to couple the adornment 7 to the mounting ring 20. For example, if the mounting ring 20 is circularly shaped, the mounting ring 20 may include four separate mounting ring pieces 8 a, 8 b, 8 c, and 8 d. Each of the mounting ring pieces 8 a, 8 b, 8 c, and 8 d may be L-shaped. Together, the L-shaped mounting ring pieces 8 a, 8 b, 8 c, and 8 d may form a disconnected circle. As shown in FIG. 3, when the L-shaped mounting ring pieces 8 a, 8 b, 8 c, and 8 d coupled to the mounting ring, one part of each of the L-shaped mounting ring pieces 8 a, 8 b, 8 c, and 8 d is positioned in between the first section 14 and the second section 15 of the mounting ring 20. Another part of each of the L-shaped mounting ring pieces 8 a, 8 b, 8 c, and 8 d is positioned adjacent to the outermost edge of the first section 14 of the mounting ring 20. The snapping device 8 may be made of any resilient material that enables those portions of the snapping device 8 positioned between the first section 14 and the second section 15 of the crown 6 when the snapping device 8 is releasably coupled to the mounting ring 20, to snap over the outermost edges of the first section 14.

As shown in FIG. 4, the pin assembly 1 may include a plurality of adornments 37, 47, 57 that may be interchanged with an adornment 27 releasably coupled to a mounting ring 34, 35, 36. Each of the adornments 37, 47, 57 may include a snapping device 28 that enables the adornments 37, 47, 57 to releasably couple to the mounting ring 34, 35, 36. The adornments 37, 47, 57 may each be the same or different shapes. The adornments 37, 47, 57 may include words or phrases. The ability to releasably couple the adornments 37, 47, 57 to the mounting ring 34, 35, 36 makes it easy for all users to interchange adornments 37, 47, 57 with the adornment 27 releasably coupled to the mounting ring 34, 35, 36 as appropriate. For example, when attending a baseball game or other sporting event a user may releasably couple an adornment to the mounting ring that may include the logo or be shaped as the mascot for a given team. In the alternative, when hiking, an adornment may be releasably coupled to the mounting ring that may be shaped like a tree. The plurality of adornments 37, 47, 57 is not limited to three adornments as shown in FIG. 4. There may be any number of plurality of adornments.

According to one embodiment, the pin assembly can be used for an accessory (e.g., a backpack) or for an article of clothing. The article of clothing may be any article capable of being worn on a person. According to another embodiment, the article of clothing is a headwear article. The headwear article may be any article capable of being worn on a person's head. As shown in FIGS. 5-6, the headwear article 60 may be, for example, a cap. The headwear article 60 may include, a headwear brim 61 and a headwear crown 62. The pin assembly 71 may couple to the headwear brim 61 or the headwear crown 62. Preferably, the pin assembly 71 couples to the headwear brim 61.

In the configuration shown in FIGS. 5-6, the pin assembly 71 couples to the headwear brim 61 of the headwear article 60. The pin assembly 71 includes a pin 72, a crown 76, and an adornment 77. The pin 72 may include a base 82 and a post 75. The crown 76 may include a base 89, an opening 79, and a mounting ring 90. The adornment 77 may include a snapping device 78. The pin assembly 71 functions similarly to the pin assembly shown in FIGS. 1-3.

The headwear brim 61 may include a first face 67 and a second face 68. In order to couple the pin assembly 71 to the headwear article 60, the tip 74 of the pin 72 is made so that it is sharp enough to pierce the first face 67 and the second face 68 of the headwear article 60 without the aid of any device or mechanism. After piercing the first face 67 and the second face 68 of the headwear article 61, the base 82 of the pin 72 that faces toward the second face 68 of the headwear article 61 is positioned to lie flush with the first face 68 of the headwear article 61. Once flush with the first face 68 of the headwear brim 61, the post 75 of the pin 72 can be fastened to the crown 76. Once the crown 76 is fastened to the pin 72, the pin assembly 71 is child safe. The adornment 77 may be releasably coupled to the mounting ring 90 by snapping the snapping device 88 of the adornment 78 to the mounting ring 90.

It should be noted that the term “exemplary” as used herein to describe various embodiments is intended to indicate that such embodiments are possible examples, representations, and/or illustrations of possible embodiments and such term is not intended to connote that such embodiments are necessarily extraordinary or superlative examples.

Given the present disclosure, one versed in the art would appreciate that there may be other embodiments and modifications. Accordingly, all modifications attainable by one versed in the art from the present disclosure, within the scope and spirit, are to be included as further embodiments of the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure is to be defined as set forth in the following claims. 

1. A pin assembly, the pin assembly comprising: a pin including a post, wherein the post includes a threaded portion; a crown configured to receive the threaded portion of the post; and an adornment releasably coupled to the crown.
 2. The pin assembly of claim 1, wherein the adornment is configured to be decoupled from the crown.
 3. The pin assembly of claim 1, wherein the crown includes a mounting ring, and wherein the adornment includes a snapping device, the snapping device releasably coupling the adornment to the mounting ring.
 4. The pin assembly of claim 1, wherein the pin assembly further comprises a plurality of adornments, the adornments adapted to interchangeably couple to the crown.
 5. A pin assembly for an article of clothing, the article comprising a material having a first face and a second face, the pin assembly comprising: a pin including a post, the post configured to penetrate the first and second faces of the material, wherein the post includes a threaded portion; a crown configured to receive the threaded portion of the post, the crown adapted to be positioned adjacent to the second face of the material; and an adornment releasably coupled to the crown.
 6. The pin assembly of claim 5, wherein the adornment is configured to be decoupled from the crown.
 7. The pin assembly of claim 5, wherein the crown includes a mounting ring, and wherein the adornment includes a snapping device, the snapping device releasably coupling the adornment to the mounting ring.
 8. The pin assembly of claim 5, wherein the pin assembly further comprises a plurality of adornments, the adornments adapted to interchangeably couple to the crown.
 9. A pin assembly for a headwear article, the article comprising a material having a first face and a second face, the pin assembly comprising: a pin including a post, the post configured to penetrate the first and second faces of the material, wherein the post includes a threaded portion; a crown configured to receive the threaded portion of the post, the crown adapted to be positioned adjacent to the second face of the material; and an adornment releasably coupled to the crown.
 10. The pin assembly of claim 9, wherein the adornment is configured to be decoupled from the crown.
 11. The pin assembly of claim 9, wherein the crown includes a mounting ring, and wherein the adornment includes a snapping device, the snapping device releasably coupling the adornment to the mounting ring.
 12. The pin assembly of claim 9, wherein the pin assembly further comprises a plurality of adornments, the adornments adapted to interchangeably couple to the crown. 